2013 BQB Mock Draft Challenge

We're back with a preview of the 2013 NFL Draft, which starts tonight at New York's Radio City Music Hall.  Last year, we graded 7 mock drafts and our friend Peter King came out on top.  This year, we'll look at the same set of mock drafts from last year, with two changes -- Mike Mayock replaces Charley Casserly (who, as of this writing, hasn't updated a mock draft in a few days), and Kash Money, last year's last place finisher, drops out, as he (she?) doesn't appear to have published a mock draft this year.

Let's meet the mock drafters:


- ESPN.com's Mel Kiper, Jr. (Draft 5.0)
- ESPN.com's Todd McShay (Draft 6.0)
- Sports Illustrated's Peter King
- CBS Sports' Rob Rang
- RotoWorld.com's Evan Silva
- NFL.com's Mike Mayock

We'll extend our universe to the top 16 picks for this year, with the point system the same as last year:

- If a player is selected in the exact slot the drafter picked him, he gets 10 points
- If he's selected one slot away, he gets 9, two slots, 8, etc., to a floor of 0 points
- For example, Mel Kiper projects Luke Joeckel will go #1 overall.  If he goes #4, Kiper will get 7 points (10 minus 3)

Here's how the six mock drafts shook out this year:

	Team	Kiper	McShay	King	Rang	Silva	Mayock
1	Chiefs	Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M	Eric Fisher, OT, Central Michigan	Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M	Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M	Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M	Eric Fisher, OT, Central Michigan
2	Jaguars	Eric Fisher, OT, Central Michigan	Dion Jordan, OLB, Oregon	Ezekiel Ansah, DE, BYU	Eric Fisher, OT, Central Michigan	Eric Fisher, OT, Central Michigan	Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M
3	Raiders	Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida	Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida	Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida	Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida	Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah	Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida
4	Eagles	Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma	Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma	Dion Jordan, DE, Oregon	Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma	Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma	Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma
5	Lions	Ezekiel Ansah, DE, BYU	Ezekiel Ansah, DE, BYU	Dee Milliner, CB, Alabama	Ezekiel Ansah, DE, BYU	Ezekiel Ansah, DE, BYU	Ezekiel Ansah, DE, BYU
6	Browns	Dee Milliner, CB, Alabama	Geno Smith, QB, West Virginia	Eric Fisher, OT, Central Michigan*	Dion Jordan, OLB, Oregon	Dion Jordan, LB, Oregon	Geno Smith, QB, WVU
7	Cardinals	Dion Jordan, OLB, Oregon	Jonathan Cooper, OG, UNC	Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma	DJ Fluker, OT, Alabama	Barkevious Mingo, LB, LSU	Jonathan Cooper, OG, UNC
8	Bills	Jonathan Cooper, OG, North Carolina	Ryan Nassib, QB, Syracuse	Chance Warmack, OG, Alabama	Ryan Nassib, QB, Syracuse	Ryan Nassib, QB, Syracuse	Tavon Austin, WR, WVU
9	Jets	Barkevious Mingo, OLB, LSU	Tyler Eifert, TE, Notre Dame	Barkevious Mingo, DE, LSU	Barkevious Mingo, DE, LSU	Tavon Austin, WR, WVU	Dion Jordan, DE, Oregon
10	Titans	Sheldon Richardson, DT, Missouri	Dee Milliner, CB, Alabama	Jonathan Cooper, OG, UNC	Dee Milliner, CB, Alabama	Jonathan Cooper, OG, UNC	Dee Milliner, CB, Alabama
11	Chargers	DJ Fluker, OT, Alabama	Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M	Geno Smith, QB, WVU*	Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah	DJ Fluker, OT, Alabama	Chance Warmack, OG, Alabama
12	Dolphins	Chance Warmack, OG, Alabama	DJ Fluker, OT, Alabama	DJ Fluker, OT, Alabama	DJ Hayden, CB, Houston	DJ Hayden, CB, Houston	DJ Fluker, OT, Alabama
13	Jets	Tavon Austin, WR, WVU	Chance Warmack, OG, Alabama	Tavon Austin, WR, WVU	Geno Smith, QB, WVU	Jarvis Jones, LB, Georgia	Tyler Eifert, TE, Notre Dame
14	Panthers	Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah	Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah	Sheldon Richardon, DT, Missouri	Kenny Vaccaro, FS, Texas	Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida	Sheldon Richardson, DT, Missouri
15	Saints	Jarvis Jones, OLB, Georgia	Barkevious Mingo, DE, LSU	Sylvester Williams, DT, UNC	Jarvis Jones, OLB, Georgia	Xavier Rhodes, CB, Florida St	Barkevious Mingo, DE, LSU
16	Rams	Kenny Vaccaro, S, Texas	Tavon Austin, WR, WVU	Kenny Vaccaro, S, Texas	Tavon Austin, WR, WVU	DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Clemson	Kenny Vaccaro, SS, Texas

*- Peter King predicts a trade between the Browns and Chargers; under that trade, the Chargers would select Eric Fisher and the Browns Geno Smith.

A few observations:

1. No consensus #1.  Past years have seen a sure-fire, no-questions-asked #1 pick.  Last year, the Colts had already begun negotiating a contract with eventual #1 pick Andrew Luck.  This year, the drafts are split as to whether Kansas City will take Luke Joeckel (4 of 6 drafts) or Eric Fisher (2), both OTs.

2. How many quarterbacks?  The drafts are all over the board as to which QBs get taken in the first half of the first round.  Mel Kiper sees none being selected, while Rang and McShay see two.  Half the drafters have Ryan Nassib going to the Bills at #8, while a few see the Browns selecting Geno Smith.  Rob Rang sees the Jets taking Smith with the #13 pick acquired from the Bucs for Darrelle Revis.  Note that Matt Barkley is nowhere to be found.

3. Floyd to the Raiders, Ansah to the Lions.  Five of six mock drafts see the Raiders selecting Florida DT Sharrif Floyd, and the same number have the Lions taking DE Ezekiel Ansah from BYU.  That's as close to a sure thing as we appear to have tonight.

4. No running backs.  Though Eddie Lacy improved his draft status with a ridiculous BCS Championship performance, none of the 96 picks above are running backs.  At least one running back has been taken in the first round of the past 49 drafts.  Are teams finally wising up to how fungible the running back position is?

We'll be back after the weekend to grade the drafters.  Until then, enjoy the draft.

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